Housing Headlines

Median rents for one-bedroom apartments in Melrose, Cambridge, Waltham and Framingham are up by at least 30 percent compared to last year, with average increases ranging from $550 to $650 more each month, according to a report released last week by the rental listing website Zumper. Experts interviewed for the story - including MHP's Tom Hopper - all agree that the state is not producing enough housing and that measures like the state's new multifamily zoning requirement for MBTA communities would help increase home supply.

WEYMOUTH --- Business owners in the town's Jackson Square area say efforts to make zoning changes that would spark revitalization while protecting the village's character are not dense enough to make redevelopment economically viable. At issue are proposed height limits of 1 1/2 to four stories depending on the location. Some business owners would like to see a four-story standard throughout the district.

NEWTON --- Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has named seven residents to the city's new affordable housing trust, stating that the trust "has the ability to create a streamlined process to provide funding for new affordable housing projects." Named to the trust were Tamirirashe Gambiza, a certified public accountant and member of the Commonwealth Land Trust; Ann Houston, former president of the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association; Jason Korb, principal of Newton-based developer Capstone Communities LLC; and Peter Sargent, formerly of the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation. The trust also includes Councilor Alicia Bowman and Community Preservation Committee member Judy Weber.

Local officials who say state zoning reforms are taking away local control are peddling a "fallacy," the Banker & Tradesman declares in an April 3 editorial. The editorial argues towns still have a strong say in what gets built and it urges lawmakers to stand by the state's new zoning requirement for MBTA communities and pass additional zoning proposals this year so the state can better address its housing crisis and take steps toward limiting greenhouse gases.

HOLYOKE --- Responding to Way Finders' interest in creating more affordable housing, the city and the Springfield-based nonprofit have reached an understanding in which the development focus will be on High Street area of downown.

IPSWICH --- Six weeks after the select board voted to send a multifamily moratorium proposal to town meeting, the planning board nixed a developer's proposal to build 10 units on a half-acre downtown lot near the town's commuter rail station.